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| Cardinals Cupich, McElroy and Tobin |
2026, the United States has entered into the most profound and searing debate
about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of
the Cold War. The events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland have raised basic
questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace. The
sovereign rights of nations to self-determination appear all too fragile in a
world of ever greater conflagrations. The balancing of national interest with
the common good is being framed within starkly polarized terms. Our country’s
moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life
and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination.
And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s
well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that
encourage polarization and destructive policies.
all of these reasons, the contribution of Pope Leo in outlining a truly moral
foundation for international relations to the Vatican diplomatic corps this
month has provided us an enduring ethical compass for establishing the pathway
for American foreign policy in the coming years. He
stated:
In our time, the weakness of multilateralism is a
particular cause for concern at the international level. A diplomacy that
promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a
diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies. War is
back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading. The principle established after
the Second World War, which prohibited nations from using force to violate the
borders of others, has been completely undermined. Peace is no longer sought as
a gift and desirable good in itself, or in pursuit of “the establishment of the
ordered universe willed by God with a more perfect form of justice among men
and women.” Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for
asserting one’s own dominion.
Leo also reiterates Catholic teaching that “the protection of the right to life
constitutes the indispensable foundation for every other human right” and that
abortion and euthanasia are destructive of that right. He points to the need
for international aid to safeguard the most central elements of human dignity,
which are under assault because of the movement by wealthy nations to reduce or
eliminate their contributions to humanitarian foreign assistance programs.
Finally, the Holy Father points to the increasing violations of conscience and
religious freedom in the name of an ideological or religious purity that
crushes freedom itself.
pastors and citizens, we embrace this vision for the establishment of a
genuinely moral foreign policy for our nation. We seek to build a truly just
and lasting peace, that peace which Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel. We renounce
war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military
action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal
instrument of national policy. We seek a foreign policy that respects and
advances the right to human life, religious liberty, and the enhancement of
human dignity throughout the world, especially through economic assistance.
nation’s debate on the moral foundation for American policy is beset by polarization,
partisanship, and narrow economic and social interests. Pope Leo has given us
the prism through which to raise it to a much higher level. We will preach,
teach, and advocate in the coming months to make that higher level possible.
Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, Archbishop of Washington
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark
